Ranked 32nd with Super Bowl odds of +50,000.
Yes, most of the NFL media have the New Orleans Saints at the very bottom of their power rankings in 2025.
Is that fair? Or is there a sleeping giant underneath they are not seeing?
A repeat of 2006?
Some of the outlook for 2025 sounds familiar because it is. The Saints have been here before, 19 years ago.
Back in 2006, the team was still reeling from a 3-13 season and its home being decimated by Hurricane Katrina. The team had not made the playoffs since 2000.
The Saints brought in a new, offensively minded head coach and signed a free agent quarterback coming off a significant shoulder injury.
The team were not expected to perform miracles. Yet they went 10-6, winning the NFC South and reaching the NFC Championship Game for the first time in their history.
Three years later, they did it all with the team’s first Super Bowl win. So could they do it again?
Alas, a fairytale seems unlikely.
Gunslingers firing blanks
This year, much of the scepticism centres on the quarterback position. Second-year Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough have been battling it out all offseason to determine who will start under center.
Head coach Kellen Moore recently announced the former will lead the charge in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals after neither player stood out as the team’s QB1.
This in itself is concerning. I am not sure I saw anything from Rattler in preseason that showed me he was anything but the player he was last season.
As pick #40 in this year’s draft, it seems likely that the team will want to turn to Shough before long. The fact he is not starting this weekend simply gives him more time to develop – something Moore has proven adept at in the past.
Rebuild mode
If neither Rattler or Shough stand out this season, the team will go into 2026 with a high draft pick and a better draft class from which to find their new quarterback.
So while few fans will wish their team to fail, if there was ever a year for it, this would be the one.
The Saints still have some good pieces and a few of their recent draft selections could form a solid foundation around which to build. Banks, Fuaga and Stutsman in particular look strong building blocks if the team can maximise their talents.
A quality franchise quarterback could change their entire trajectory. However, even the best-case scenario feels a couple of years away.
Saints fans should prepare to play the long game, embrace the rebuild and hope the team is ready when that elusive field general comes through the door.
